OK,

So my calico twin-tail Kittly seems to be a male and my common Mr. Whiskers seems to be female. How do I know you ask? Well, Kitty now has one of those white spots on her upper left gill and it looks kind of like ick and i can see another one developing on his other gill.

Egads man, I am not prepared for fry!

Do I have to separate them or is there something else I can do to keep them from breeding? It may be too late as they are already chasing each other all over the tank! I've heard horror stories about this...

I am in no way an expert, but most of the infromation Ive received says That mating has a great deal to do with temperature What temp are you running in your tank right now?

ahhhh, my post was moved!

um the temperature is around 68 degrees F.

I think if you want them to breed you are supposed to raise the temp gradually (I don't know what to) so presumably if you don't want them to breed you need to make sure the tank doesn;t get hot.

I'm not too sure if it is all about temp. After my fish wouldn't stop breeding, I turned on the air conditioner and kept the temp at 74, i even checked their thermometer to be sure the tank temp stayed the same. For a while, they stopped breeding and then one day after a huge rain storm, I caught them breeding again. The temp never changed either.

I feel bad but i just let them eat their eggs and i clean their ornaments before any babies have a chance to develope. I do not think it is fair to seperate them, unless the female cannot handle anymore.

karla

Wow, thats not too bad, my tanks stay at about 60 but thats because they are in a basement, the other thing I read when conditioning them to breed is feeding them lots of high protien foods beyond that I dont know may be some fish are just bunny rabbits in fish bodies lol. If they are fairly big, I wouldnt worry too much about them being egg bound, and they usualy eat their own eggs. You may want to ask an expert though, Ill try to get somone who knows more on this thread

I agree with Karla. If you do not want babies, just clean the tank after they breed. The eggs are excellent protien for the fish - and will help build back up the female after she spawns. The tank is usually a mess after breeding and needs a large water change anyway. Let them eat for a while, then wipe away the eggs and clean the tank.

Some breeds of fish and some times the males can get REALLY rough. If that happens you should separate them - to give the female time to recover and relax.

Keeping their tank at an even, unchanging temperature is more effective at preventing breeding behavior than having the temperature rise and fall with the house temp. Cool or warm - as long as it is steady - they are less inclined to "get busy".

thanks for the advice, i'll get pics when/if she lays eggs!